4 Reasons why I ported out from Vodafone Idea

4 Reasons why I ported out from Vodafone Idea

Gone are those days when people use to change their phone numbers frequently while shifting from one operator to another. Mobile Phone Number is a necessity in today’s life especially because they are associated with various day-to-day services i.e., Mobile Banking, Digital Wallets, UPI Payments etc..

And that’s the reason people feel reluctant while changing their mobile service provider.

And if their mobile phone supports multiple sim, then they take an extra sim from a different service provider if required. But again running two sim connections simultaneously drains out your mobile phone’s battery much faster and involves an additional cost which at times might be unnecessary.

Luckily, with of MNP (Mobile Number Portability), one can easily port out a phone number from one service provider to another.

After availing the mobile phone service of Vodafone Idea (Now rebranded as VI) for 17 long years, I had to shift to port out my mobile number out of sheer frustration. Below are the top # reasons why I chose to shift:

  1. Network Issues: This one tops all the reasons why I decided to shift from Vodafone Idea.
    Poor network connectivity issues of Vodafone Idea.Imagine yourself to be in the middle of an important voice call and all of a sudden it got disconnected. And there is no network for the next few minutes. This was my common experience with Vodafone Idea during the past few months.Mobile tower icons at the top of the mobile screen indicated that the signal strength is quite weak. And last but not the least – if the network connectivity is weak, I can’t expect anything from the SpeedTest too.
  2. No VoWiFi: I must say that VoWiFi is a game changer for mobile service providers i.e., Jio and Airtel which currently offers VoWiFi service to supporting devices without any additional cost. VoWiFi allows the voice calls to be routed through the user’s connected WiFi which actually works like a secondary route if the mobile tower connectivity isn’t strong enough to deliver high quality voice call experience.Unfortunately, as of October 2020 while I publish this post, Vodafone Idea does not offer VoWiFi.Vodafone Idea provides VoLTE for supporting mobile phones but that’s different than VoWiFi.For the unaware, VoWiFi means Voice Over WiFi which is an alternative for VoLTE (Voice Over LTE). Whenever you are in a remote area where the network coverage of your mobile operator is weak, you can utilize VoWiFi calling for superior call quality given you have a strong WiFi connection. The users can make calls to any part of India with the help of VoWiFi calling and the best part is that it works on any type of Wi-Fi connection. Additionally, there is no specific app required to use this feature.
  3. Free Caller Tunes: Vodafone charges a monthly subscription of Rs. 36 /mo for Postpaid & Rs. 36 /28 days for Prepaid for caller tunes. Song selection /change are charged at Rs. 15 per song selection / change. Other providers i.e., Jio and Airtel offers Caller Tunes subscription for free and users can select/ modify caller tunes for unlimited number of times.
  4. No-Unlimited Calls: Certain business entities including banks in India use special phone numbers starting with ‘1860’ like 1860 419 5555 for Axis Bank customer care, 1860 120 7777 for ICICI Bank customer care, 1860 123 1000 for Bigbasket etc. Unlike toll free numbers starting with 1800, numbers starting with 1860 in India are premium phone numbers which are charged at higher than usual rates than regular numbers.The extra money paid by the caller is shared between the telecom provider (e.g. Vodafone Idea, Airtel etc.) that owns the premium number, and the callee (i.e. the party whom you have called). So, you need to have some money in your prepaid account’s main balance in order to make such calls if you are already using Unlimited Call plans. As of October 2020, only Jio provides truly unlimited calls within India and does not charge any extra money for making calls to such special phone numbers too.

The bottom line:

In a buyer’s market, we – the customers are spending our hard earned money with an expectation to get quality service. There may be temporary issues which can be resolved through proper communication and customer support and if all the options are exhausted, then it’s time to make the change.

How does your mobile service provider compare with your expectations? Feel free to share you comments below:

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